As an author of westerns, I figured I'd better put a bunch of interesting facts and fiction concerning the historical west on the web. This blog does that. It will include poetry, fiction, factual articles and links, and as much western color as I can muster. Have a fun read.

About Me

永年コピライターをしてから引退をしました。2005年にニュージーランドへ渡りヨットを自作。単独の世界一周に出港。難破。船を亡くしたが命が助かった。それから小説作家の道へ。現在では10冊目が売れ、11冊目に取りかかる所。頑張ります。
Although I write Western novels as Chuck Tyrell, I've been a magazine and newspaper journalist for more than 30 years. I'm interested in the effect sports have on the lives of physically challenged athletes (we call them paralympians) and have started a blog about them. I also have a blog in Japanese on the eternal enigma of learning English.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Six months since 25,000 people died

On March 11, 2011, a quake registering 9.2 on the Richter Scale was caused by shifting of tectonic plates off eastern Japan. Unlike most earthquakes, which tend to center in one place, such as the one that hit ChristChurch New Zealand, this one spread for 200 kilometers along the edge of the Pacific Plate and was felt as far away as Alaska and Siberia. Devastation wracked Japan. Not just in the areas hit by massive tsunami, but in places hundreds of kilometers away -- Urayasu, for instance, where Disneyland is located, suffered immensely from liquifaction, which left holes beneath streets that only came to light when the heat of summer arrived.

Remember that more than 1,500 children lost their parents. Remember that 250,000 people were displaced. Remember that some people around the Fukushima Nuclear Plant may never see their homes again in their lifetimes.

I have picked up some scenes from Youtube that you who search in English would never find. The soundtracks are in Japanese. Turn off the sound if you wish, but look at the messages. Please.

Nik Morton and I have both published books for the disaster. All the proceeds, from the authors and from the publishers, go to help victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. At the end of this post, I'll give you tags where you can spend a little money to help many people.